Being Normal
by Packersfan12
Summary: All Gemma Wilkins wanted was a fresh start, to forgive and forget her demons. She wanted a normal life, a normal job, and a normal friend, but as you know a fresh start and normalcy is hard to come by in White Pine Bay, especially when you chose Bates Motel as your 'normal job'. Dylan/O.C.


The chair groaned underneath him as Dylan Massett rocked back and forth, blowing streams of smoke into the air as he sat outside the motel smoking. He reached to his right to grab hold of his bottle of whiskey and watched some birds fly across the overcast sky.

That was about the most beautiful thing he'd ever hope to see in White Pine Bay, the pile of shit town that it was. He told himself he was going to leave, but he knew he never could. He couldn't leave Norman behind with Norma, those two were about as good a match as fire and gasoline, if one didn't get into trouble, the other did.

He took a deep swig of whiskey and wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve and sighed, closing his eyes as a warm breeze swept over him. He must have fallen asleep there, because the next thing he knew, someone was tapping his shoulder.

He wrenched awake, sitting up in his seat so quickly the stool he had propped his feet on toppled over. The person who'd poked him jumped back, retracting their arm in surprise.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, I'm not going to kill you."

Dylan looked up to find a girl standing with her arms held up, her dark eyes wide and eyebrows raised. She had on a simple pair of jeans with a rust colored Carhartt jacket. An off-white knitted hat was pulled down over her head stopping just above her eyebrows, and a shock of dark brown hair fell to just below her armpits. She was easily one of the most attractive people Dylan had ever seen.

"Yeah, well, that'd be a first." Dylan said after a moment, "Can I help you?"

She looked a little confused at his first statement but shoved her hands into her jacket pockets and said, "I was wondering if you knew the manager."

"Yeah, she's my mom." He said.

"Great! Do you know where she is? I checked the office and she wasn't there." The girl said, throwing a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the office.

"Oh, yeah, she went to town, said she'd be back later." Dylan sat up straighter in his chair, "Did you need a room?"

"Actually I was wondering if you guys were hiring." She said.

"You want to work here?" Dylan asked, an unbidden smile coming to his face, "Why?"

"Well I just figured it seems pretty quiet over here, and when I asked, some people in town said this place could use a lot of help." The girl shrugged.

"I bet they did." Dylan muttered, "Well, I mean I guess it would give Norma a break every now and then. What are you expecting to get paid?"

"Honestly, as long as it's minimum wage or above, I don't care." The girl shrugged, "I just really need the money."

"Yeah I get you there." Dylan said, "How's starting at eight dollars an hour?"

The girl looked surprised and stuttered, "Great, but shouldn't I talk to the manager?"

"You want a job?" Dylan asked.

"Yes."

"Then stick with me. You're hired." He said, sitting back in his chair. After a moment he blurted, "Shit, my name's Dylan Massett, I guess I should probably ask your's since I just hired you."

"Gemma." She said, reaching out to shake his hand, "Gemma Wilkins."

"Nice to meet you Gemma."

"You too."

"Don't look now, but Norma's back." Dylan said, standing, "Get ready for the fireworks."

"Fireworks?" Gemma asked, following him as he started walking to Norma's car, "What do you mean 'fireworks'? Is she going to be mad?"

"Oh no doubt." Dylan said, throwing a glance at her as she hurried to keep up with him.

Her dark eyes met his and she said, "Well, I don't want you to be in trouble or anything."

He snorted, "Trust me, it's not you. Norma hates me, she likes to use everything I say against me."

"Hi Dylan." Norma said as he approached her car. She threw a glance at Gemma and said, "Who's this?"

"This, Norma," Dylan said, "is the Bates Motel's newest maid."

Norma's eyebrows shot up and she put a hand on her hip, "Maid? I don't remember putting any ads in the paper."

"She was looking for a job, the great people of White Pine Bay told her the motel needed a lot of help, so she came here." Dylan said, sniffing, "I hired her on the spot."

"Excuse me but you're not the owner of this place I am." Norma said, "And I say we don't need a maid."

"Please, ma'am," Gemma spoke up from behind Dylan, "I really need a job. You won't even have to see me. I'll do my job and leave, and I have very flexible hours so you can schedule me when you won't be around so you won't see me."

"Right so you can steal something?" Norma asked.

"Norma." Dylan said, "Why do you always assume whoever comes on this property is here to kill you or steal something?"

"Because everyone who's come onto my property_ has_ wanted to kill me or steal something." Norma said. Finally she sighed, eyeing Gemma, and then flicked her eyes on Dylan, "Fine Mr. Helping the Needy, she can stay, but she's your responsibility. You keep an eye on her."

Dylan shrugged, "It's not like I have anything better to do in this hell hole."

Norma slammed her car door shut and stalked off towards the towering house they lived in. Dylan watched her go, a smug amused grin on his face. He turned around and clapped his hands, "I told you, stick with me and you'll have a job."

"I don't know, she seemed pretty upset." Gemma said, "And from what it sounds, you haven't had very kind guests."

Dylan chuckled, "People don't come around here often because of what happened. It's kind of a turn-off I guess."

"What happened?" Gemma asked.

He threw an odd glance at her and asked, "_What happened_? You don't know?"

"I'm not really from around here. I came to get a fresh start." Gemma said, smiling.

At this, Dylan had to laugh, "You chose the worst possible place on earth for a fresh start. Norma and my brother came here for a fresh start and you see what that got them."

"No, I don't." Gemma said, "I don't know what happened."

"The guy that used to own this motel was murdered, they found his hand in the bay. Cops thought Norma did it, so they came around a lot asking questions. She started to get involved with the Deputy, Zack Shelby. Well, my brother was in his house once waiting for him to get home, and found some girl in his basement. Turns out Shelby was keeping a sex slave down there for himself. Norman tried to tell Norma, but she wouldn't listen. So Norman and his friend Emma went looking for the girl and found her, brought her back to the hotel, and kept her there. Shelby came over to see Norma and found the girl in the hotel room. There was a shootout, and Shelby died right over on those steps over there. You can still see his blood." Dylan explained.

"Shit." Gemma sighed, "That's nuts."

"You're telling me." Dylan said, "He shot me in the arm."

"Oh my God, are you okay?" She asked, noticing his sling as if for the first time.

"Well, every now and then I get a monster itch, but other than that it's okay." Dylan said, flashing her a grin, "I never even felt it."

"So, when do I start?" She asked.

"I don't know, tomorrow?" He said.

"Okay, I'll be here." Gemma nodded, walking backward towards the road.

"See you then." He said, turning around to walk up the steps to the house.

"Dylan," Gemma called, "I don't need to expect any more crazy people right? They're all gone? Everyone's normal?"

He laughed, "Oh, Gemma, you'll find out soon enough that no one around here is normal."

_**Yay to new stories! I love Bates motel, so much I had to write a story for it because that's what I do. Dylan is my love and basically could be my husband, like, I totally would be okay with that.**_

_**Anyway, this chapter was a little dull, I know that, but I was never good at writing opening chapters. If you stick with me, I promise it will get better.**_

_**Reviews are highly recommended, mostly because I love hearing what people have to say, but if you read it I'll love you too. **_


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